Once Around the Table
by Mysticsecret
Summary: WARNING: Romance. I'm not writing an action fic until I read a plot analysis and completly understand the game. Please enjoy anyway. Criticism is okay, just don't be lame about it. I warned you.


**Disclaimer: Just to be safe, anything in Killer7 does not belong to me.**

It's a funny thing when you sign your life and hobbies away to a line of work where you kill or get killed. Days bleed into months and eventually accumulate to years. There's no point in keeping a watch, because, hell, as soon as you check the time, the batteries run out. That's how time works when you're an assassin. Nothing is ever savored. That is, until you hit a break. Those are the good times— the time to kick off your shoes and have some rest and fucking relaxation…aside from a meeting or two.

You see, no one really believes that we work together. None of us interact, they say. Sometimes I think people are almost as blind as Con. It's true, we don't usually see, or at least acknowledge, each other during missions, but we often enjoy each other's company at the hotel when the missions are complete.

The pigeon flew by and she smiled. _Almost here, _she thought coyly. Something made her heart jump to her throat every time these meetings took place. Kaede was always the first to arrive. Always punctual. She sat down in the chair nearest the door at the end of the very long table. As usual Con was next to arrive followed by Garcian, then Kevin and Mask, then Dan. Everyone settled in their usual seats. Such an ironically mundane setting for a room full of assassins. The time was growing as thick as fog in the air. Kaede chanced a glace around the room. Everyone had busied themselves with something when Dan looked up. They're eyes met. For a split second, Kaede could feel her body melting in her seat but was rehabilitated when the door suddenly banged open. Coyote Smith, king of the thieves, last to arrive. Kaede began fiddling with her dress.

"How nice of you to join us, Coyote. Couldn't chance being early, could you?" Harman wheeled out from the shadows to the head of the table.

"Didn't wanna disappoint," he said casting his gaze around the room. He tossed his magnum on the table, sat in his chair and propped up his feet. Kaede peeked through her hair without lifting her chin. Coyote was dressed in a black shirt today completing his typical image of a badass. Kaede bit her bottom lip in despair and pried her eyes towards the head of the table.

Harman clasped his hands together.

"I have nothing to say to any of you fucking Smiths. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a chess game to win."

With that, the Master was gone.

Con scratched his head. "Uhh…what the fuck?"

"I guess the old man has nothing for us." Mask stood up and stretched. "Well, amigos, I'm off to the pool. Don't wait up."

"Bitchin'! No meeting. Wait, man. I'm hittin' the pool, too!" Con ran to catch up with the wrestler.

Kevin and Garcian followed suit. Dan began leaving, as well, but noticed he wasn't being followed.

"You two gonna stay here, or what?" He turned to Kaede and Coyote.

Kaede turned red and continued to stare at her hands in her lap.

"Go find your mother and fuck her in the ass, Daniel." Coyote looked up amused at Dan.

Dan stood there for a second eyeing the theif, but decided to turn away and began heading for his room.

The door closed and Kaede continued to look at her hands.

"So. What's my little pussy been doing all these months, huh?" Coyote smiled evilly at Kaede. She glared at him through her hair.

"You've been thinking about me haven't you?" He pushed himself out of his chair and began walking around the table towards her.

He reached her chair and ran his fingers through her short, dark hair.

"Has it been hard without me at night?" He kissed her neck gently.

"Stop it," she whispered angrily.

"Are you sure?" he said slowly creeping his mouth to her ear.

Kaede reached for her gun and shoved it underneath his chin. "Stop it, you bastard, or your fucking chin's coming off."

"Finally found your voice, Kaede?" he asked, unaffected. "That's fine. I just better not find you fucking around with Dan again."

Kaede's gun slipped out from under his chin.

"That's right." He smiled satisfied. "Don't think that I don't know what you've been up to. You think you're invisible when you're on missions. I know your every move. So keep a sharp eye, sweetheart." He grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her roughly before turning on his heal and leaving her alone in shock.

Dan leaned on the wall and let his head bang against it.

"Where the fuck is she?" he called out loud.

Just then he heard a knock on the glass door. It was Kaede shivering in her blood-soaked dress with a look of earnest on her face. Dan rushed to open the door.

"Get in here." He scooped her gently into the crook of his arm and brought her into his room out of the cold night air. "What's the deal? You're never late." He smiled wryly as he draped his blazer over her shoulders and began rubbing her arms.

She looked up at him without returning the smile.

"Something wrong?"

She hesitated. "I can't be here." She looked down and let her hair drape into her face. Her favorite hiding place.

"I don't understand. I thought you were going to stay with me tonight."

"I can't, Dan. We can't do this anymore." She exhaled deeply. "I'm a mess."

He smiled again and bent down to look in her eyes. "Luckily, we know how to fix that, m' lady."

She fought hard, but couldn't keep back a childish grin. Suddenly all those nights alone with Dan flooded her memory. _What am I doing? This is where I should be. But I can't be here. Get a hold of yourself, Kaede. You have to leave._ Her smile escaped her.

"I can't do this. I have to go."

Kaede looked up at Dan, planning to leave on those words. Unfortunately, looking Dan straight in the face had become a plain weakness in the last few months. Her chest felt like it was about to explode as her teeth clenched in a sudden violent passion. She wanted to badly to throw herself into Dan's arms and feel his slender body against hers again, but she looked away from him and felt the passion burn down like a flame slowly deprived of kerosene. She wished that Dan would stop her from going. Put his arms out and declare that she couldn't possibly leave him. That he'd protect her from Coyote and they'd ride off into the sunset. But Dan just stood there and let his eyes fall to the ground.

Dan sighed gruffly. "Go. I don't want you in any trouble."

Kaede's breath seemed to fog Dan out of vision. _What is he saying?_ She didn't understand how he couldn't read her thoughts. _Take me away from this, Dan. I don't want it. I want to be right here._ Somehow she couldn't form her thoughts into words. Slowly and sadly she slipped off Dan's coat and tossed it on the side chair. Brushing past him towards the glass door she could smell his familiar scent. The one she could always associate with a night of passion. She wanted to look back so badly, but didn't. She held her breath walking over the threshold hoping to hell that Dan would make her turn around. She stopped when her feet greeted the cold concrete. No voice calling her back.

She closed her eyes. "Fuck you, Dan," she whispered to the stars.

Kaede took her time back to her room on the walkway. She allowed the night's chilly fingertips to tiptoe up her arms and into her flesh. She slid open the glass door and stepped into the room she felt she knew better than anyone else. Before she could turn around to shut out the night, a strong arm slipped around her stomach. She caught his scent and slipped into a trance as her mind was enveloped with a sweltering past once again. She felt his pressed shirt run against her pale skin as he pulled her close against him. He brushed his cheek against her's.

"If you're not staying, then I am." Dan's lips grazed Kaede's ear. Her chest heaved deeply as Dan removed the strap of her dress replacing it with his mouth. She ran her clenching fingers through the back of his hair, silently begging him never to let her leave again. She spun around and looked at him once again. _I love you, _her head was screaming. She threw herself into his arms and pressed her swollen lips to his. She felt her body leave the ground and enter his as she kissed him. Nothing was ever tangible when she was with Dan. Dan gently laid his lover on the bed he always dreamed of being in as they delved into each other without a thought of what might be going on outside of Kaede's room.


End file.
